The blood pooled, the blood squirmed, the blood splashed and renewed.
And Arthur was still alive.
He thrashed around, inside the flesh-prison of his mom's throat and guts. Arthur clawed at the walls, splitting them with his nails which cracked under the pressure. Such movements were enough to spare him, as his mother hacked him up and spat him out onto the ground.
Overall, she'd spent too much time fully as a dragon, and so she reverted to her human form, transforming back with dark red clothes. It was a simple onesie, just enough to be able to cover herself, and it was indeed made of blood, that being her own.
Arthur looked up at his mom, covered in slobber and feeling gross beyond comparison. She was a woman of short stature, with long brown hair and almond brown eyes.
'What… what happened?'
He looked at his lower body, finding that surprisingly, his legs were attached again. And his sides, the pain from his ribs breaking, it didn't hurt anymore. And indeed, his throat was clear of his own blood.
His mom turned around, seeing that others were now present, seeing what had just happened. It was late out, so not too many people were present. Yet, to those that were, they had seen a dragon.
"Mom, I…" Arthur whispered. However, being given a second chance, he got up, looking at his legs. He himself was butt-naked, so he rushed over to his previous legs, taking his own pants off and putting them along himself.
He turned his gaze towards his mom as he did so, before she sighed. In a flash, she broke off into a sprint, comparable to that of a wolf, at least in terms of speed. It looked surreal, seeing a "human" go that fast, her strides seeming too long for her short body to be able to achieve.
Arthur, before he could even call out for her, witnessed a massacre. Three humans had seen her, and three died. They were picked up, before her head turned into that of her dragon-form, gulping them down her stomach and into her belly.
Arthur, being himself, wondered how that was even possible, to fit those humans into her belly. However, before he reached a satisfactory answer, she bolted over to him. And Arthur stood up, now fully clothed.
Her speed was amazingly beyond human, which made it all the more frightful that it was heading towards him after previously slaughtering a few people.
Arthur's mind went blank, unsure of what to do. It was his mom. Yet, everything about her seemed to be a lie. That speed, the quickness with which she moved, and the fact that three people, innocent people, had just died before his eyes, it was all so much.
And so, he didn't do anything. When she reached him, she reeled her hand back. Blood exited her fingernails and coated her hand, as she unleashed a strike right to his stomach. The blood exploded, adding more force to the blow.
He lost all control of his body, being helplessly stuck in the air before he came tumbling down onto the grass once more. The punch woke him up from his daze, as the pain and the lack of breath in him brought time to a halt.
No more dreaming. No more thinking. It was just pain and suffocation.
He heard footsteps, and he got up, seeing her go for a punch to the head this time. Arthur evaded the punch, yet backed away, hesitating to counter with any attack of his own.
He was faster than before. Much faster. The punch would have been fatal, given enough time to die from internal bleeding. Yet, he took it like a champ.
Something about his body changed, and he had gone beyond humanity.
His mother attempted another attack, throwing a left uppercut aimed for his jaw. Yet, he was able to evade, whether it be due to her lack of experience, or simply holding back against her son.
It was then that he made yet another then-and-there decision.
He clenched his fist and reeled it back, taking a big step and launched it with all of his bodyweight, cracking her in the jaw with it. He grunted loudly as he did so, in a manner which was almost like a scream.
The attack was devastating, neither due to the physical damage nor the psychological damage to Arthur's head, punching his mother with intent to hurt. When it came to "bullies," those he had rarely did anything to physically assault him, so he never deemed it necessary to fight them.
And for the "terrorists" of just last night, he fought back because it was all he could do. This situation wasn't much different. Yet, even still, it was perhaps the first time he could have ever considered himself a "fighter."
The punch twisted his mom's head, as she staggered, holding her jaw. Arthur took a second, breathing heavily as he took a few more steps back.
"W-wha… mom, I…" he mumbled, not having anything to truly say. His fists unclenched, yet he kept a defensive stance, trying his best to recreate a fighting stance he'd seen in an anime, with his stance being long, one hand to his face and the other extended quite a bit.
His mom looked down, taking a deep breath before looking at him once more. Arthur wanted something to say, anything.
Maybe an "I'm sorry," or perhaps another "why?" Or even a "please stop," all of those would be good. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to say anything. In this current situation, it was violence. Words wouldn't be enough to settle anything, not this deep into it.
She rushed him down, throwing a jab at his head. Arthur evaded, weaving backwards. However, something wrapped around his leg and pulled his leg out from underneath him, bringing him to the floor.
When he looked up from the grass, he saw that his leg was pulled by a tail, one she'd sprouted. He was focused on the hands, which led to such a deception being possible.
Blood came out from her shoe, covering it as she raised her foot, stomping down onto Arthur's head. The blood exploded, adding more force once more and digging his head into the dirt.
Arthur rolled, pulling his head out from the dirt with force. Once he did, another kick was unleashed to his head like a soccer ball. The blow blew him back, as blood pooled from his nose. He cupped it up with his hand, before she rushed him down once more.
Blood trickled down his head from the stomp, and it was being mixed in with blood on his nose. He looked at his mom, using his arms to block the axe kick she unleashed upon his head. It rippled through his arms, shaking his whole body and delivering pain.
'Somehow, my legs were healed. What is there to even do? Wait, if we're both descendents, then… I want to use blood.'
The blood on his face and head pooled around him, covering his head like armor. He stood up, stumbling a bit as the blood fully transformed his face. Instead of simply looking like Arthur, just with a red face from being covered in blood, he looked more like a dragon.
His eyes were purely white, with black and red morphs. His mom clicked her tongue, rushing forward. Her tail revealed itself once more, aiming for Arthur's legs as she attacked with her hands.
Arthur lifted his leg to avoid the tail, though the punch landed right onto his snout. It twisted his head even more, however he himself was able to recover.
His mom was pulled in closer with his tail, as he sprouted it. He had taken inspiration from her, and she was affected by it.
His mother, Anastasia, had little combat experience, especially with other dragons. She preferred a more "human" lifestyle, and so never trained to be able to handle other dragons.
Now close, Arthur opened his dragon's mouth, chomping down onto her shoulder. She cried out initially, with her own head turning to that of a dragon and aiming to bite him. However, he ripped out a large chunk of her shoulder, dismembering her arm off along with it, and kicked her away before she could bite him.
Blood poured out of the open wound where her arm once was. She growled in pain, before it was eventually healed back hastily and to the full.
Arthur gulped down the bit of shoulder he'd bitten, looking at her with purely white eyes.
"So that's the art you inherited," his mother said. "Blood Armory."
Arthur himself didn't understand it.
The transformation into a dragon was not biological. Not Arthur's, and not in this current state.
When his mother took on her dragon body, that was something that she was able to do because she was part dragon. Her actual Dragon Art was not responsible for the change.
However, Arthur's art, "Blood Armory" was what made his bite so dangerous. Arthur was capable of entering his dragon body biologically. However, he used his blood as part of his technique to be able to create the dragon head.
In doing so, that made his bite stronger than it would have been if it was naturally done. Which is why his bite was simply superior to his mothers, and why he was able to rip her shoulder off.
She rushed him once more, swinging his arm before him, not as a punch. The blood on her hand flicked off, and Arthur used his tail once more, though it clashed with his mom's. She reeled her hand back for an obvious punch, so Arthur blocked preemptively, ready to block and then counter.
However, the blood that was behind him exploded. It wasn't big enough to create a massive explosion. However, it was enough to startle him and drop his guard slightly. Now, she used her punch to break open his guard, landing an attack to the center of his face.
Arthur used his tail to ground himself, before launching himself into the air with it, like a pole vaulter. He arrived in the air, pulling his tail back into his body as he went for a dropping Superman punch.
It was the best he could do, having zero fighting experience. His mom dodged, smacking him in the face with her tail and crashing him into the dirt. She lunged at him as he got back up, putting his hands into a guard.
Arthur sprouted his tail, using it to propel himself at her instead of in the air. He latched his jaw onto her leg, biting it off of her body. She fell down, with him then climbing on top of her. She used her tail to get them both off the ground as she punched him in the face, distancing him.
He fell to the ground, as she landed safely. She healed her leg, not through a Dragon Art, but rather through something engrained in all who had dragon's blood in their veins. It converted stamina in exchange for healing.
With her healing two full limbs, and not training her stamina consistently, she was now exhausted physically. Her movements were slowed, and she gasped for breath, taking pauses in movement to catch up.
Arthur stood back up, seeing her situation. He stopped moving himself, breathing heavily. It was the first time he'd done strenuous physical activity, so he was indeed gassing out as well. He wiped the sweat off of his forehead.
Earlier, he had no words. But now, he did say some things. He didn't believe that anything could possibly undo what had already been done. It was hard to believe it could even be fixed. Yet, he still yearned.
"Mom… are you… are you choosing them over me…?" he asked with a terribly somber voice. She had no response, and nothing on her face gave the impression she did either. She kept silent, though in pain.
The silence ended when Arthur laughed. He couldn't help but laugh. It was so sad, yet so funny at the same time. He looked her in the eyes, the dragon's head going away, revealing himself. His true self.
"I… I'm hurt," he said, one final time. He rushed at her, and she slowly tried to block. He punched her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her. She fell to her knees, gasping and wheezing awfully. The noises she made deeply saddened Arthur.
Now, from the view on top, he saw her weakness. Whether she was simply that weak, or holding back because he was her son, he didn't know. And either way broke his heart.
Arthur extended his hand, wanting to help her up. Yet, he quickly pulled it away, grimacing his face and looking away.
As he turned, he saw that man from the forest.
"Oh… it's you," Arthur said bluntly. The man approached him, looking over at his mother and walking towards her. Arthur blocked his path, standing between him and his mom, looking the man in his eyes.
Off the rush of a fight, of physical pain and violence, the shackles he normally placed upon himself were loosened, perhaps even shattered.
"Oh? This woman came to kill you, I'm sure you're aware. And yet, you want to save her?" The man asked. Arthur nodded his head, turning behind him and looking down at her.
"Honestly, I kind of want to let you do your thing. That way, I can't blame myself, since it's all on you. Yet, despite that… she's still my mom. And I'm afraid if I let her just die, I'll have nightmares," Arthur let out.
"Won't you have nightmares already? It's been a terrible night," the man said. "Well, even if I do, I'd rather have nightmares about being killed than being the one killing my own mother. Or maybe… maybe I'm just hoping that by doing this, eventually she'll forgive me, or at least take my side," Arthur replied quietly.
A happy ending. That's all Arthur wanted right now. From here, he'd want her to put in a good word, and the family would forgive him. His recruitment into the Graves family would be gone, and he would eventually get to meet the siblings he formerly betrayed, weird scent and all.
Yet, he knew deep down that it couldn't happen. But even still, he wished whole-heartedly.
He wouldn't kill his mother.
"Very well. Though, I'm sure this will put up walls between you and the Graves family. After all, you're one of us, yet you refuse to show your commitment and that you've truly left behind the Assas family," the man said, almost in a snarky manner.
"Ah, I see. Well, if that's the case, then…" Arthur stammered. He made eye contact with the man, his upper eyelid drooping down. "Screw you guys. This is my mom, not some random person I've never met before. And when it comes to your family, I hate you, y'know?" Arthur said bluntly.
The man scoffed, shrugging his shoulders. Arthur looked back at his mom.
"Please leave me alone. I just want to live a normal life," Arthur said to her. She sprouted wings and took off, flying away. Arthur smiled slightly, hoping that was enough for him to be forgiven.
"Well then, that's that. She had the accompaniment of Raus, descendent of Zeus, the Lightning Dragon. That caused a blackout and shut down the security cameras, and I made sure no one saw what was going on. Your secret is safe, although there's damage to the field," the man said.
"I see. Well, um… I guess that is indeed that… I'm tired," Arthur replied. He laid down on the grass, stretching and yawning.
"I thought I was gonna die for realsies! And man, I did well in my first fight, it felt strangely good… except for the fact that I was fighting my mom, I guess."
"Good grief. Well, I'll leave with your number. I'll call you and let you know when a meeting with the Graves family can be arranged," the man said.
"Ah, 'kay. I'm just feeling pretty relieved I'm not dead, y'know? Though I'm sure that when this high comes crashing down, I'll be really sad. But I've got my friends to stick with me, so I'll be okay in the end," Arthur delighted. He got back up, before walking back to the dorms, the power flickering back on.
'I'm kinda nervous. About the future, I mean. Like, my friends… if they're okay, I'm okay, but still. Next time I see mom, I hope she doesn't hate me.'
Once more, he returned to his dorm room, seeing Tyler sitting inside and talking with the others. With the power out, they all decided to play a board game.
Tyler, though he previously was confused at Arthur's statements, didn't believe he was off to kill himself. Rather, he believed that he was plainly expressing gratitude, and he wasn't too concerned after some time.
"Phew, I've had a rough night, guys," Arthur yelled. "I'm taking my butt to bed!"
He went onto his bed and passed out. His wounds were healed, and he seemed fine, just a bit roughed up.
"Ah, nighty night then," Tyler responded. It was Saturday, so the group played as he fell asleep. Their words, their jokes, their joy and whimsy, it comforted him, even when he was terrified of the future.